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Antique Moxie Nerve Food Co. Bottle - Lowell, Massachusetts - Circa 1886
An extraordinary survivor from the earliest years of one of America\'s most iconic soft drinks - when Moxie was still being marketed as a remarkable medicinal tonic promising to restore the nerves, revive the exhausted, and seemingly cure just about anything that ailed nineteenth-century America!
Offered here is a scarce, first-generation MOXIE NERVE FOOD CO. bottle from Lowell, Massachusetts, dating to approximately 1886. Standing an impressive 9 7/8 inches tall, this beautiful deep-aquamarine bottle features a wonderfully crude applied blob top, richly charactered early glass, and the highly distinctive circular embossing associated with Moxie\'s earliest embossed bottle design.
This is not the familiar later Moxie bottle. It represents a particularly early chapter in the company\'s history, when Dr. Augustin Thompson\'s unusual beverage was just beginning its remarkable journey from patent medicine to American soft-drink legend.
The Rare Circular Embossing
The front displays large, wonderfully irregular raised lettering arranged in a striking circular configuration:
MOXIE NERVE
FOOD
CO
LOWELL MASS
Unlike the more familiar Moxie bottles with their horizontal lettering, this early design incorporates the company\'s name into an almost wreath-like arrangement.
The individual letters are delightfully crude, slightly crooked, and unevenly spaced, lending the bottle tremendous nineteenth-century character.
Of particular significance is the central CO designation beneath FOOD.
Bottle historians Bill Lockhart and Bob Brown identify this distinctive arrangement as their Type No. 1, the earliest documented embossed Moxie bottle. Their research suggests the design was ordered only once, probably around 1886, before the company returned temporarily to using champagne-style bottles.
This makes the circular-lettered example a particularly desirable and historically significant early variety.
Dr. Augustin Thompson and the Birth of Moxie
Moxie\'s fascinating history begins with Dr. Augustin Thompson, a Civil War veteran and physician originally from Union, Maine, who established his medical practice in the bustling industrial city of Lowell, Massachusetts.
During the 1880s, Thompson introduced a preparation called Moxie Nerve Food, promoting it as a restorative beverage for the increasingly exhausted, nervous, and overworked American public.
His advertisements made extraordinary claims. Moxie was promoted as a remedy for nervous exhaustion, paralysis, mental weakness, and even the mysterious Victorian affliction known as the loss of manhood.
The beverage\'s distinctive bitter flavor was associated with gentian root, an herb long employed in traditional medicinal preparations.
Thompson also promoted Moxie as an alternative to alcoholic beverages, appealing to the growing temperance movement.
In 1885, the Moxie name received federal trademark registration, and the business began its remarkable expansion.
By the end of the nineteenth century, Moxie had developed into one of New England\'s best-known beverages, eventually becoming a celebrated American soft-drink brand.
Remarkably, the drink survives today, and in 2005 Moxie was officially designated the state soft drink of Maine.
Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1880s
Imagine Lowell in 1886.
The city was one of America\'s great industrial centers, with enormous brick textile mills lining its canals, factory whistles marking the working day, and thousands of workers laboring amid the machinery of the Industrial Revolution.
The country was experiencing dramatic technological and social changes. Electric lighting was emerging, telephones were transforming communication, and Americans were becoming increasingly fascinated by inventions, modern medicine, and products promising renewed vitality.
It was precisely this atmosphere that helped make Thompson\'s Moxie Nerve Food such a compelling commercial success.
And it was during these formative years that this very style of bottle was produced.
Beautiful Early American Glass
The bottle itself is an outstanding example of nineteenth-century mold-blown glassmaking.
Its rich aquamarine color becomes particularly attractive in natural light, while the uneven thickness of the glass creates beautiful variations in tone.
The cylindrical body exhibits desirable early manufacturing characteristics, including subtle waviness, irregular glass distribution, scattered suspended bubbles, and distinctive mold-blown texture.
The boldly raised circular lettering provides exceptional visual appeal.
The tall neck terminates in a large, wonderfully crude applied tapered blob-top collar, exhibiting the irregular workmanship and charming imperfections associated with early handmade bottles.
The base is smooth, rather than pontiled, and displays additional early manufacturing irregularities.
Condition
A remarkably attractive example displaying beautifully.
Height: 9 7/8 inches.
Color: Rich deep aquamarine.
Manufacture: Early mold-blown glass with applied blob-top finish.
Embossing: Strong, prominent circular lettering with wonderful irregularities.
Glass: Bright, clean, clear, and shiny.
Interior: No haze.
Damage: No chips or cracks.
Wear: Several visible scuff lines, including those shown in the close-up photographs. Additional minor surface wear consistent with age and handling.
Character: Attractive glass waviness, suspended bubbles, and early manufacturing imperfections.
Please examine the photographs carefully, particularly those illustrating the scuff lines, as they form an important part of the condition description.
A Scarce Survivor from Moxie\'s Beginnings
What makes this particular bottle so appealing is the combination of its exceptionally early design, unusual circular embossing, prominent CO designation, beautifully crude applied blob top, deep aquamarine glass, and impressive 9 7/8-inch stature.
Its bright, clean, haze-free condition is especially welcome in a bottle approaching 140 years of age.
For collectors of early American soda bottles, patent medicines, nineteenth-century advertising, New England history, or Moxie memorabilia, this is an opportunity to acquire an important early design from the formative years of an enduring American brand.
An exceptional piece of early Moxie history — dating to the days when a bottle of “Nerve Food” promised nineteenth-century Americans a little more strength, courage, vitality, and, ultimately, moxie!
